Save as PDF

You can use the Office programs to save your files as PDFs so you can share your files or print your files using commercial printers. And you won’t need any other software or add-ins.

Important After you’ve saved a file as a PDF, you can’t convert it back to an Office file format without specialized software or a third-party add-in. See the Make changes to a PDF file section in this article for more information.

Make changes to a PDF file

Because one of the purposes of the PDF format is to keep the format of your files from being modified, you can’t easily convert or save a PDF file into another file format if you don’t have the source file.

To change the PDF file, do one of the following:

Open the original Office file in your Office program, make your changes, and then save the file in PDF format again.

Use a third-party application, such as Adobe Acrobat for PDF, or visit the Office Store to find other conversion products. After you purchase a third-party solution, follow the vendor's instructions about how to install and use it.

Note The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

What is PDF format?

Portable Document Format (PDF) PDF preserves document formatting and enables file sharing. When the PDF format file is viewed online or printed, it retains the format that you intended. The PDF format is also useful for documents that will be reproduced using commercial printing methods. PDF is accepted as a valid format to many agencies and organizations, and viewers are available on a wider variety of platforms than XPS.

Important To view a PDF file, you must have a PDF reader installed on your computer such as the Acrobat Reader, available from Adobe Systems.